1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to surgical instrument cases, and, more particularly, to orthopaedic surgical instrument cases.
2. Description of the Related Art
Advances in the surgical arts, in particular the orthopaedic surgical arts, are often times accompanied by advances in surgical instruments associated with a particular procedure. Such advances sometimes produce more complex instrument sets with more numerous individual instruments. It is necessary for surgical instruments to be well organized, and visually available at a glance, when in use in an operating room in order to facilitate the efficient implementation of a surgical procedure. At the same time, operating rooms have limited table space available for surgical instrument cases. Additionally, such cases are typically used to hold the instruments during sterilization after surgical use, after which the cases may be enclosed in a sterile wrap.
In order to save space on an operating room backtable, and aid in the organization of surgical instruments, surgical instrument cases are known which add trays to the cases through hinged extension arms, similar to a tackle box. However, such a solution is relatively expensive to manufacture and can be damaged easily through rough handling, as such handling can torque and bend the arms thereby rendering the arms, and therefore the case, unusable.
A modular sterilization tray system for medical instruments is known which includes a rigid, substantially rectangular case having a pair of opposite side walls, a pair of opposite end walls and a bottom wall. A plurality of vertical columns of vertically spaced apart uniform size holes are formed in the case side walls and end walls. Also, one or more substantially rectilinear instrument trays are provided for placement in the case, the length and width dimensions of each of the trays being directly related to the spacing of the columns of holes in the case side and end walls such that one or more trays may be positioned within the case so as to be bracketed by selected columns of holes. The system also includes fixtures for positioning in selected holes of the bracketing columns of holes for fixing the position of one or more trays at a selected elevation in the case and fixation brackets for variously shaped instruments placed in the trays. Although this sterilization tray system includes instrument trays which are provided for placement in the case, there is no accommodation for the instrument trays except within the case, or on the surgical table, thereby taking up surgical table space when in use.
Another system is known which includes a modular sterilization tray system with a substantially rectangular case holding one or more trays. However, and as with the above described modular sterilization tray system, there is no accommodation for the instrument trays except within the case, or on the surgical table, thereby taking up surgical table space when in use.
A sterilization cassette and a sterilization method for sterilizing, storing, and dispensing dental instruments are known where the sterilization cassette includes a mounting bar and a locking bar for dental pliers of various types. A removable instrument tray is included, and a case with a front side which opens and hinges in two places, allowing the cassette to be arranged in horizontal and vertical configurations. Although this design has some versatility, when the front side is opened and the cassette is in the horizontal or vertical configurations, the footprint of the sterilization cassette is increased thereby taking up more space on a table or platform. Additionally, the hinges can be unreliable and/or difficult to clean and sterilize.
What is needed in the art is a surgical instrument case which saves space on an operating room backtable, aids in the organization of surgical instruments, is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and is reliable in service even with rough handling.